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We hav just found mouse dropping on tv unit in saloon and dry dog food moved? We hav a special camera which we hav put in/round/behind crooks and cranies only found tiny amount of poo at mo. Think dog was disturbed last nite. Boat is only 9 months old. Advice would be much appreciated. NO scare stories please l want to b able to sleep until we can get trap or whatever. Many thanks

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You'd think that owning four cats, I'd not have any mice within a hundred yard radius. Wrong! The cats catch mice, bring them onboard and let them go. Generally I can catch them and put them back out right away, but a couple of times I have had to put down traps. While you don't want to leave them in the hull as they will chew wiring, it's fairly unlikely this will happen within a couple of days.

Get some humane traps, figure out where they're coming from (I assume not being carried in in the dog's mouth?) and block it off.

 

At one point I had a rat in my bedroom for a couple of days that got between my bed slats and the base and was impossible to catch. While this was annoying and a bit unnerving, he didn't try and chew my face off in the night or anything. Though he did chew a rubber fender I had under the bed!

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Buy the humane traps - they like chocolate. Once had an old place in Spain with loads of mice. I put down some of those spring-loaded traps, never again.

 

Why not? I have caught literally thousands of mice with Little Nipper traps - it's the only kind worth getting. When I was a nurseryman I had thirty of them regularly set and caught between 5 & 10 mice per day. I presume 'humane' traps keep the mice alive in a little cage until you get round to doing something with them, whatever that is.

 

BTW, I use pieces of apple for bait - no way would I waste chocolate on mice.

Edited by Mac of Cygnet
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On a steel boat it should be pretty difficult for mice to get in, but if your pets are bringing them in that's another story. I wouldn't have a cat on the boat for that reason. A bloke I know has mice in his bilges and behind the wooden lining orginally brought in by his cat. It sounds like they have since bred and he hears scratching sounds in the night.

 

Although dogs don't bring mice in, leaving that dry dogfood around is bound to attract rodents. My mum has a wiemerana and she keeps a big sack of the stuff in a plastic dustbin outside. She asked me to fill up a bucket once and a dirty great rat jumped out of the bin.

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We hav just found mouse dropping on tv unit in saloon and dry dog food moved? We hav a special camera which we hav put in/round/behind crooks and cranies only found tiny amount of poo at mo. Think dog was disturbed last nite. Boat is only 9 months old. Advice would be much appreciated. NO scare stories please l want to b able to sleep until we can get trap or whatever. Many thanks

 

In order to keep the boat clean you should really provide really tiny rolls of (two-ply) toilet paper for them

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Why not? I have caught literally thousands of mice with Little Nipper traps - it's the only kind worth getting. When I was a nurseryman I had thirty of them regularly set and caught between 5 & 10 mice per day. I presume 'humane' traps keep the mice alive in a little cage until you get round to doing something with them, whatever that is.

 

BTW, I use pieces of apple for bait - no way would I waste chocolate on mice.

They get my vote as well (little nippers) and yes dogs will bring mice in, well my old spotty dog did. As for getting into a steel boat you just have to look at the size of hole they can get through, think ventilators, edges of slides and in this weather doors open.

Edited by ditchcrawler
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We too have a mouse! Not sure whether that cat brought it in originally but we noticed it after being away for a week with the cat.

We have moved all food from mousey reach and have set a humane trap but so far the mouse has evaded it.

The cat is spending a lot time with his ear pressed to the floor looking perplexed.

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It is amazing what mice are attracted to as a tasty snack - some years ago we returned to our caravan after a winter lay up of a few months to find a mouse had found it a very pleasant winter guest house. There was no obvious damage, just dropping all over the place. It had got in through a damaged (chewed through?) vent in the floor and eaten it's way through almost an entire bar of soap!

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You'd think that owning four cats, I'd not have any mice within a hundred yard radius. Wrong! The cats catch mice, bring them onboard and let them go.

 

 

Same. The boat sounds like the mouse organ some mornings with one cat 4 must be lively.. We have a trap permanently set up under one of the floor hatches.

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We were once fascinated by both (our long since gone) cats transfixed by our dishwasher, it went on for a couple of days until I twigged the need to investigate.. pulled it out and sure enough there was a mickey doing a high wire trapeze act on the wiring inside, one of them knew he was there as they'd brought him in..

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Thanks for replys. Had thoughr if we had mice they would hav gone for biscuits as everything else is in containers/fridge/tins then obviously saw dog food which we will now remove into container at night. Dog would not hav brought it in. Hav had tents/caravans/motorhome over last 23 years and hav never had this before so was just really surprised. Dog will b sleeping in bedroom till hopefully this sorted as l could hear him last nite but thought he was playing with his toys ha ha

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As for getting into a steel boat you just have to look at the size of hole they can get through, think ventilators, edges of slides and in this weather doors open.

 

It depends on the boat I guess. All my vents have grilles and the doors shut tightly. I close my doors at night and since mice are primarily nocturnal animals I've never had one inside my boat.

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I Have found over the years that the best bait is peanut butter works every time with mice.

That's what I've used, I'll go and have a look in a minute to see if he's finally given in to temptation.

 

Well, the trap was tripped (and moved) but no mouse inside. Must have been clambering around on top of it.

Edited by Chertsey
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Why not? I have caught literally thousands of mice with Little Nipper traps - it's the only kind worth getting. When I was a nurseryman I had thirty of them regularly set and caught between 5 & 10 mice per day. I presume 'humane' traps keep the mice alive in a little cage until you get round to doing something with them, whatever that is.

 

BTW, I use pieces of apple for bait - no way would I waste chocolate on mice.

 

I may not want mice in my cupboards, but I have no wish to kill them or see them mangled in a spring trap. And I would release them. Yes, to get back in if I can't make it impossible.

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I may not want mice in my cupboards, but I have no wish to kill them or see them mangled in a spring trap. And I would release them. Yes, to get back in if I can't make it impossible.

 

My livelihood depended on eliminating the little pests, and Little Nippers work better than anything else. Rabbits, on the other hand, are best caught in cage traps - rabbit sized spring traps are illegal (we had a dog lose a leg in one set by a local gamekeeper). So I caught a few rabbits alive. I gave them to a falconer friend, who humanely killed them before feeding them to his birds.

 

I think.

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My livelihood depended on eliminating the little pests, and Little Nippers work better than anything else. Rabbits, on the other hand, are best caught in cage traps - rabbit sized spring traps are illegal (we had a dog lose a leg in one set by a local gamekeeper). So I caught a few rabbits alive. I gave them to a falconer friend, who humanely killed them before feeding them to his birds.

 

I think.

 

I haven't made the transition to vegetarianism. But, it would happen pretty quick if I had to kill my food. While I require other people to kill for the plate, the rationale behind my humane treatment of mice isn't fully squared.

 

One of those things. I've used 'nippers' and wouldn't use them again.

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I am a pest controller and deal with vermin on a daily basis. Your mice (sorry but don't assume it is just one) could well be field mice. You could try one of those humane traps but they aren't very good at catching, and if you release it/them outside they could well try to get back in (you haven't said if you are cruising or moored all the time). A mouse can get through a gap the width of a pen.

 

If you don't use a humane trap then a traditional one like the little nipper are excellent and humane, but bait it with a gooey food like peanut butter or chocolate spread because with a lump of something like chocolate they can often whip it off before the trap springs and worse still get caught in the trap without being killed instantly and humanely.

 

You could try using poison which is often more effective than traps which they can learn to avoid, but always have at least 3 different baiting locations and ensure that it cannot be accessed by pets of young children.

 

Although they are legal (unfortunately), please don't use glueboards as IMO they are inhumane and I've known mice/rats to gnaw their legs off to try to free themselves.

 

Whatever method you use always remove or make inaccessible any other food sources to maximise the chances of it/them eating your bait. Also, once you have caught a mouse don't assume that is it. Re-bait or re-set and leave them down for a few days after just in case there are any more. Then if there is nothing else caught you know you have cleared up the problem.

 

People are right about cats and dogs bringing them in, and I come across many cases where this happens.

 

Don't be too alarmed by your discovery. They can of course gnaw through wiring (all rodents have to gnaw in order to keep their teeth trim because unlike ours, their teeth grow continuously), but this is extremely unlikely. They can also carry various diseases but are unlikely to in rural locations, however you should still chceck your food,crockery, and utensil cupboards for droppings and clean thoroughly.

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I haven't made the transition to vegetarianism. But, it would happen pretty quick if I had to kill my food. While I require other people to kill for the plate, the rationale behind my humane treatment of mice isn't fully squared.

 

One of those things. I've used 'nippers' and wouldn't use them again.

It's odd isn't it. I watch the cat catching mice on an almost daily basis, playing with them, eating them etc. and am resigned to picking up little bodies in various stages of evisceration (is it a shovel job or a bag job?), but I still couldn't bring myself to be directly responsible even though it's probably a less gory end. Such are the inconsistencies of human sentiment, but they've served us well on the whole.

 

My biggest worry is it dying under the floor. It was bad enough in the front deck and in Chertsey's hold (a bloody rabbit in each of those cases) but at least we could take the floor up and shovel it out.

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We once had a problem with mice at one of our hospitals. We called in pest control who poisoned them but they all died in an inaccessible area under the floor. The stench was indeed something you have to experience to believe, it purveyed the whole admin. block , fortunately it was in a non patient area otherwise we would have had to move the patients and close the ward until it receded.

 

In the confines of a NB I can only imagine it would be a whole lot worse.

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It's odd isn't it. I watch the cat catching mice on an almost daily basis, playing with them, eating them etc. and am resigned to picking up little bodies in various stages of evisceration (is it a shovel job or a bag job?), but I still couldn't bring myself to be directly responsible even though it's probably a less gory end. Such are the inconsistencies of human sentiment, but they've served us well on the whole.

 

On the whole, I do resist the human sentiment when one animal kills another. They're primed to do this. Lions will sleep all day, with full bellies. They don't play with the food.

 

As a kid, going to a zoo, I'd probably have expected the 'lazy' lions to be very active and fierce. Well, they're well fed, sleep and digestion is all the viewer gets.

Edited by Higgs
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I hate killing mice but sometimes you really just have to before you end up with an infestation.

 

In our stables, we got one of these:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MULTI-CATCH-MOUSE-TRAP-UP-TO-10-MICE-HUMANE-EASY-TO-USE-LARGE-SELF-SETTING-NEW-/290653381664?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item43ac4aa420

 

It did catch a couple, but if you let them go less than a mile away, they'll just move right back in. Also, you have to check them every day otherwise they get in and just starve to death, which I'm ashamed to say happened to one poor little dear, the trap got covered in hay and dust and we just didn't check. I was horrified. At least the Little Nipper traps do the deed quickly.

 

Rats are a different story, I have no trouble poisoning those brass necked swines, the damage they do to your property is unforgivable.

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